WAXMAN'S GYMhttps://www.waxmansgym.com
Los Angeles' Weightlifting GymThu, 03 Jan 2019 18:16:37 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9https://www.waxmansgym.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/cropped-Hat-Logo-White-on-Black-32x32.jpgWAXMAN'S GYMhttps://www.waxmansgym.com
3232Year End Training Specialshttps://www.waxmansgym.com/year-end-training-specials/
Mon, 17 Dec 2018 18:58:52 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4553Wanna fix your technique and get stronger in 2019? We are pleased to announce the following training specials available for purchase now until the end of 2018. New LUNCHTIME OPTION for small group training: Every Tuesday/Thursday from 12:30pm-1:30pm. Train with us and get coached during the daytime using Sean’s programming, the same group programming we […]

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Wanna fix your technique and get stronger in 2019? We are pleased to announce the following training specials available for purchase now until the end of 2018.

New LUNCHTIME OPTION for small group training: Every Tuesday/Thursday from 12:30pm-1:30pm. Train with us and get coached during the daytime using Sean’s programming, the same group programming we offer in our evening classes and online. $99 for your first month, $129 per month after that. Note: Requires some snatch and clean & jerk experience.

50% OFF new custom coaching memberships: If you’re interested getting coached with personal programming that’s written just for you, our custom coaching memberships may be the perfect fit! Take half off for your first month of any monthly custom coaching membership. Note: No experience required.

Also:

Coaches Only: We’ve recently announced 2019 dates for our Waxman’s Weightlifting Method coaching course. If you’re a coach or gym owner seeking a way to standardize the way you teach and fix the snatch and clean & jerk, join us for our certification course next year. Sign-up before the end of 2018 and take $50 off each coach registration.

To inquire about or sign-up for of any of these year-end offers, please contact us directly at info@waxmansgym.com.

]]>Coaching Weightlifting Athletes by Their Stage of Developmenthttps://www.waxmansgym.com/stages/
Fri, 28 Sep 2018 02:45:53 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4515There are two types of weightlifting athletes, Stage 1 and Stage 2. As a coach, if you can determine your athlete’s stage, you can better structure training and help your athlete maintain a proper focus. Many coaches don’t properly program or focus their athletes for the stage they are in. This is a mistake. It […]

]]>There are two types of weightlifting athletes, Stage 1 and Stage 2.

As a coach, if you can determine your athlete’s stage, you can better structure training and help your athlete maintain a proper focus.

Many coaches don’t properly program or focus their athletes for the stage they are in. This is a mistake. It can hinder the athlete’s development and permanently lower the ceiling on their potential.

Here’s a way to determine your athlete’s stage and what to do with it:

Stage 1

You have a Stage 1 athlete if they execute the snatch or clean & jerk inconsistently. Their movement patterns may vary from day to day, set to set, or even rep to rep.

Whether their technical errors vary randomly (i.e. they are inconsistently inconsistent) or they’ve honed in on a few common ones (i.e. they are consistently inconsistent), the errors in Stage 1 derive from problems of concept or coordination, not from weight. Either your athlete doesn’t yet have a proper concept of what’s supposed to happen in the lifts, or their coordination doesn’t yet let them execute properly every time.

If your athlete’s technique gradually declines as the weight on the bar increases, or if they are snatching or clean & jerking well-below what their strength should support, you have a Stage 1 athlete.

With an athlete in Stage 1, efficiency and consistency should be your main focus. For long-term progress, you must help them establish an efficient technique that doesn’t vary rep to rep or day to day. This should be as close to the textbook – the biomechanical ideal – as feasible, while leaving room for minor personal variation. Without efficient and consistent technique, the way your athlete moves will prevent them from reaching their full potential.

Your athlete’s task in Stage 1 is to make their reps more correct and more alike. Their movements should trend toward the biomechanical ideal with less variation from rep to rep, day to day. Plotted as a curve on a graph, you are seeking to shift the curve upwards and flatten it.

To establish these qualities, Stage 1 athletes require programming that includes a wide variety of exercises, targets a broad range of athletic qualities, and the weights should be moderate most of the time. As your athlete develops efficient and consistent patterns, you should increase their weights.

Be careful, however. It’s a mistake to push increasingly heavier weights at the expense of technique. The programming and the weights are just tools for improving the athlete’s concept and coordination. By adding more weight than the athlete’s technique can support, you run the risk of embedding bad habits and limiting their potential.

Should you avoid challenging weights or testing 1RMs in Stage 1? Certainly not. For proper development, your athlete must establish good patterns as the weights increase. The only way to do this is to practice weights that present a challenge. However if the weight is too challenging, too early or often, or if the weight itself causes a change in the the quality of the lift, then it’s too much weight.

To test Stage 1 athletes, 1RM tests can be worthwhile provided your standard for success includes technique. If your athlete abandons their prior patterns of efficiency and just convulses the weight up, that’s not exactly a win.

Further, consider doubles and triples in training as ongoing progress tests. Performing these well at each new increment of weight is just as valuable as any 1RM test in Stage 1.

Once your athlete develops efficient technique that doesn’t vary rep to rep, set to set, or day to day, they will have established what we call their rational technique. And you will then be coaching a Stage 2 athlete.

Stage 2

Stage 2 athletes have already developed rational technique. Their movement patterns don’t vary from lift to lift or day to day, and their deviations from textbook technique are few and efficient enough to support their long-term progress.

A Stage 2 athlete’s technique doesn’t degrade gradually in relation to the weight on the bar. As they go up in weight during training, there’s an assumption that their technique will remain sound, at least until a certain threshold. Then they start to fail.

Errors in Stage 2 aren’t caused by concept or coordination, they are caused by weakness. Your athlete isn’t yet strong enough to hold the position(s) or generate the energy required to perform properly at the weights they target. They know what to do and how to do it, but they’re not yet strong enough to make it happen.

Your mission with a Stage 2 athlete is to help them get stronger while maintaining their technique. In doing so, you are striving to change the threshold at which their technique fails. On a graph, you are trying to shift the curve to the right.

The programming should target specific weaknesses that hold your athlete back. The overall volumes and intensities should be slightly higher compared to Stage 1 with periods of even higher intensities in certain exercises at certain times. Stage 2 programming may also contain blocks of monostructural training focused on developing one motor quality and one strength quality in tandem.

Testing for the Stage 2 athlete will typically occur in competition or as 1RM tests at the end of a training period. Again, all the Stage 1 rules about striving for consistent technique apply to progress tests in Stage 2.

Where Stage 1 training is mostly general, Stage 2 training is specific. Where weight is just a means to an end in Stage 1, more weight is the end in Stage 2.

As a coach, it’s up to you to manage your athlete’s development and help them focus on the right things. By knowing their stage, and coaching accordingly, you’ll improve their chance of achieving their goals.

p.s. If you’re an athlete who trains without a coach, the same concepts hold true for you. You should train first to improve your concept and coordination until you have established your rational technique. Then you should rigorously target weaknesses and get very strong in the context of the lifts. But don’t make the mistake of rushing out of Stage 1. And make sure your training is properly targeted once you reach Stage 2. How you deal with these stages can affect the trajectory of your career.

]]>Waxman’s Gym Video Tour with Seanhttps://www.waxmansgym.com/tour/
Wed, 23 May 2018 19:06:48 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4473We submitted a video tour of the gym last year for a USA Weightlifting project. Here is the tour:

]]>Sean Waxman Interview on Weightlifting House podcast with Seb Ostrowiczhttps://www.waxmansgym.com/sean-weightlifting-house/
Tue, 01 May 2018 06:31:49 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4449Weightlifting House podcast Host, Seb Ostrowicz, calls this the “Best interview on Weightlifting House to date.” Per Seb: “Sean and I went deep into structuring programming and how he coaches his top lifters. We also spoke about as his climb in the sport, his thoughts on the Russian system, his relationship with Bob Takano, and […]

]]>Weightlifting House podcast Host, Seb Ostrowicz, calls this the “Best interview on Weightlifting House to date.” Per Seb:

“Sean and I went deep into structuring programming and how he coaches his top lifters. We also spoke about as his climb in the sport, his thoughts on the Russian system, his relationship with Bob Takano, and his thoughts on the future of our sport.

You cannot miss this very special episode of the Weightlifting House podcast.”

]]>Announcing TrainingIQ!https://www.waxmansgym.com/announcing-trainingiq/
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 22:08:15 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4362We’re excited to be part of TrainingIQ (www.trainingiq.com). Head over to the website to learn more about how we’re building the future of weightlifting programming.

]]>Caitlin named to third consecutive Pan Am team!https://www.waxmansgym.com/caitlin-named-third-consecutive-pan-team/
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 21:49:46 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4358Late last week, USA Weightlifting announced the 2018 Pan Am team, including our very own Caitlin Hogan (@chogan25). This will be Caitlin’s third straight Pan Am team. She’ll be looking to build on the success of her 2017 performance where she won 3 medals and tied the American Record total.

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Late last week, USA Weightlifting announced the 2018 Pan Am team, including our very own Caitlin Hogan (@chogan25). This will be Caitlin’s third straight Pan Am team. She’ll be looking to build on the success of her 2017 performance where she won 3 medals and tied the American Record total.

]]>Mini Barbells for Kidshttps://www.waxmansgym.com/mini-barbells-kids/
Fri, 02 Mar 2018 16:57:30 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4334We’ve recently started teaching weightlifting to kids, ages 6-13. After posting an image of some mini-barbells we purchased, we received several inquiries re: “Where did you get these?” In our research so far, there are at least 3 companies that make mini-barbells for young kids. Here are the ones we’re aware of: OSO 5lb Mini […]

]]>Local Meet Announcement: No Pressure Open, April 29https://www.waxmansgym.com/no-pressure-meet/
Wed, 28 Feb 2018 20:15:19 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4319On April 29, 2018, we are hosting a non-sanctioned weightlifting meet for those who want to experience a competition setting without all the trappings (and expenses) of an official USAW meet. Great for first-timers as well as anyone who wants practice in a fun, relaxed competition setting! Format/Rules*: The meet format/rules are based mostly on […]

On April 29, 2018, we are hosting a non-sanctioned weightlifting meet for those who want to experience a competition setting without all the trappings (and expenses) of an official USAW meet. Great for first-timers as well as anyone who wants practice in a fun, relaxed competition setting!

Format/Rules*:
The meet format/rules are based mostly on official USAW/IWF rules. For example:

Each lifter will have 3 attempts at the snatch, 3 attempts at the clean & jerk.

A lifter’s best snatch and best clean & jerk will be combined to derive their total for the day.

Each new attempt will be governed by a 1 minute countdown clock; 2 minutes in the case of a lifter who is following himself or herself.

All international technical standards will be honored (no press-outs on snatches or jerks, elbows may not touch knees in the clean, knees may not touch the platform, etc.).

We will relax certain rules for the sake of convenience. For example:

USAW membership is not required

Singlets are not required

We may opt for 1 judge rather than 3

Waxman’s Gym retains the right to modify any of the event format/rules at any time if deemed beneficial for the event.

Registration Categories:
All lifters will register in the Open category. We will not have separate competition categories for Youth, Juniors, or Masters. As feasible, we will conduct separate sessions for Men and Women. All lifts will be conducted using standard Men’s (20kg) or Women’s (15kg) competition bar.

Event/Session Schedule
The meet will run from approx 8 am until approx 6 pm. Lifters will be grouped into sessions, tentatively scheduled at 9:00am, 11:30am, 2:00pm, and 4:15pm (subject to change depending on groupability of event registrants). Any given lifter will participate only in one of these sessions (to be determined by Waxman’s Gym). Weigh-ins for each session will be conducted approx 1-2 hours before the session starts. As soon as we have a complete registrant list, we will publish groupings and lifting schedule.
Winners/Awards
We will not crown event winners. We will not provide fancy awards. We will cheer for you. If you make your lifts, we’ll cheer even louder. We’ll thank you profusely for coming, tell you what a great job you did, and invite you to return. If that’s not winning, what is?

Location
Waxman’s Gym
15701 Condon Ave, B4
Lawndale, CA 90260

Refund policy
Note: No refunds will be provided under any circumstances. If you register but are unable to attend, please contact us – we may be able to substitute a lifter from the wait list.

APRIL 22 UPDATE: Our Men’s sessions are FULL. Please do not register for a men’s session as of this date or your registration will be returned. We have 4 women’s spots left. If registration is available below, the spots are still open.

]]>NPR Segment on Car Buffer Massage at our Gymhttps://www.waxmansgym.com/car-buffer-massage/
Fri, 12 Jan 2018 05:53:44 +0000https://www.waxmansgym.com/?p=4276NPR came by the gym late last year. Check it out: